Aphelion
by Rahar Moonfire
Summary: Aphelion: the point at which the orbit of a planet or comet is furthest from the sun. Aang just wanted to speak to Avatar Roku on the Winter Solstice. So he wasn't going to turn down any help he could get. Even if it was from a young, firebending, Fire Sage acolyte with a nasty scar, a sharp tongue, dry wit, and goals of his own.
1. Meeting - Part 1

**A/N:** In _The Search_ comics, Lady Ursa wrote to her former lover Ikem and family in secret, directly disobeying Ozai's orders to cut off all of her former connections permanently. Those letters were intercepted by Ursa's servant Elua and given to Ozai. In one of those letters, Ursa mentioned she wished Zuko had been Ikem's son, not Ozai's. In retaliation, Ozai declared her wish would become reality.

Thus this idea came to be. This will definitely be at least a 2- or 3-parter because chapter is mostly written now. Or a collected of related pieces throughout the story or even become a true multi-chaptered fic. But between _Foxfire, Druid in Blue_ , and a few others, this probably won't have priority. If anyone's interested in using this idea for their own continuations, go ahead. Just let me know so I can read them too. I'm always up for a good story. ^_^

 **Chapter summary:** In which Aang makes an unexpected friend in an unexpected place. **  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"We are the Fire Sages. Guardians of the Temple of the Avatar."

"Oh good!" Aang said, smiling proudly and approaching the five firebenders without fear. "I _am_ the Avatar."

"We know."

Fire blazed and Aang barely had time to dodge and deflect the flames before they hit him or his friends. Well, this wasn't exactly what he was hoping for but he wasn't exactly surprised.

"Run!" he shouted. "I'll distract them."

He heard Katara and Sokka gasp and turn to flee down the hallway behind them. Momo took flight and twirled worriedly around Aang's head before following after Katar. Good. The little guy wouldn't stand a chance against firebenders. At least Aang could bend.

Licking his lips in concentration, Aang puffed himself into the air, spun, and kicked a jet of air straight at the Fire Sages knocking them to the ground hard enough to wind them. Another spinning kick sent ash fluttering up into the air in a thick, dark cloud that hid his retreat. Without waiting for the firebenders to get the change to recover and start attacking again, Aang turned and fled on foot down a different hallway. He'd catch up to his friends sooner or later. The Temple couldn't possibly be _that_ big, right?

Scratch that. It may not be that big, but this place was weendy-windy like a labyrinth. He he scooted down the hall to yet another hallway intersection. Oh!

"Hey guys! Follow me!"

He waved to catch Katara's eye before turning on his heel and racing down the hall towards a sharp left turn.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Katara cried breathlessly.

"Nope," Aang chirped. Rounding the corner, he slammed full on into someone. The person grunted, dropping what they had been holding with a loud crash and stumbling back a couple paces.

Startled, Aang tried to step back and blow the other person away with a blast of air that would have thrown his own body back as well. The further away from the firebenders, the better. Unfortunately, the other person reacted quicker, grabbing hold of Aang's shirt and holding on despite the gust of air to the face.

When that didn't work, Aang swung his airstaff and- it was _blocked?!_ The person's open palm had taken the hit from Aang's staff. Long fingers curled around the wood, gripping it and spinning it out of Aang's hands with a wrist-aching wrench. Luckily, the person had to let go of Aang's shirt in order to complete the maneuver giving the young Avatar the chance he needed to flee.

"Wrong way!" Aang shouted to his friends who were just rounding the corner behind him. They all skidded to a stop, turned around, and fled back down the way they came.

"Hey! Wait!" the stranger cried.

Nope! Not waiting!

Aang led the way down the hall, around a corner, into a shadowy corridor lit only by a window at the end of the hallway. The _end_ of the _hallway?!_ No! They were trapped!

"Wait!" their follower cried just as the person burst into view.

A quick twist of his wrists and Aang was in front of his friend, ready to bend the person away if he had to. Next to him, Katara popped the cork from her canteen and bent a stream of water out to fight next to him. Sokka took up a position on Aang's other side, grim faced and boomerang in hand.

The stranger held his ground but lifted both hands in surrender. It was hard to see his face in the dim light but, from what Aang could see, the person looked young. A boy? Aang really didn't want to have to fight another kid if he didn't have to. He did want his airstaff back though.

"Wait, please," the person said just loud enough for them to hear. "I don't want to fight you."

"Oh, right. Because you haven't given us any reason to doubt you," Sokka snapped back sarcastically.

The other boy jerked and lowered his arms slightly. "No, I haven't. You," he declared, pointing to Aang, "ran into me. Not the other way around."

"Oh!" Aang gasped. "Yeah. I kind of did. Sorry about that, by the way," he added with an awkward smile.

The person groaned. "Whatever," he muttered. "Look. Are you the really the Avatar?"

Aang tensed. It almost sounded like there was hope in the stranger's voice. His smile faded to a grimace. "Yes, I am," he said seriously. "Why?"

The person hesitated. "If I help you, will you get me off this island?" he asked suddenly.

Aang blinked in surprise. "Huh? What do you mean?"

The person opened their mouth to reply when voices and footsteps echoed near the end of the hall. The stranger tensed and looked over his shoulder.

"Please," he begged, returning his golden gaze to Aang and his friends. Weird. Aang could only see one eye clearly. The shadows were too dark to see the other one. "I'll get you into Avatar Roku's chamber. I promise! Just _please_ get me off this island."

The sounds of their pursuers came closer and Aang bit his lip. He _really_ needed to talk to Roku. But he wasn't sure if he should trust this new person. Then again, if he _did_ trust them, he could get his airstaff back _and_ see Avatar Roku all without fighting.

"Alright," Aang said finally. "It's a deal."

The stranger all but sagged in relief. "Thank you," he breathed.

"What?" Katara gasped. "Aang! We don't know him!"

"Keep your voices down!" the person hissed.

Instead of leading them back down to hall like Aang expected him to, the stranger moved closer. Aang stepped back warily, as did Katara and Sokka. The person stepped into the dim red light of a wall sconce and reached up to grasp the fixture.

He was younger than Aang thought he was. Older than Sokka though. His black hair was cut short framing a grim, determined face cast in odd shadows from the reddish light from the wall sconce.

Without a word, the young man yanked the wall sconce in a quarter circle to the left. With a dull thud, the wall next to the sconce thrust back suddenly and moved aside with a low grinding sound. The hidden passage was carved from a dark rock that gleamed almost like glass. Aang had never seen anything like it before.

"Woah," Sokka breathed. Neither did the Water Tribe siblings, apparently.

A loud shout jolted them out of their stupor. Their pursuers were dangerously close now. The strange young man was twitching with nervous energy when he glanced over his shoulder.

"Get in," the young man commanded firmly, returning his gaze to Aang and his companions. When they didn't move fast enough to suit him, he snarled. "Quickly!" he snapped, grabbing a handful of Aang's shirt and tossing him into the secret tunnel.

Aang puffed the air around him so he didn't land too hard. That would hurt. At least he had his airstaff back, even though his head hurt from where the stranger threw it at him. Ouch.

He turned back to see Sokka and Katara with Momo on her shoulder hurry into the tunnel behind him. The stranger hesitated long enough to pull the sconce back into place and slip into the tunnel just as the stone wall slid shut, sealing them in the warm blackness. Then a small flame bloomed in the darkness of the cavernous tunnel revealing the young stranger. He held his handful of fire up a bit so he could see them all and-

Oh. Oh wow. Aang felt his heart drop to his feet and clutching his recovered airstaff close to his chest. No wonder he'd had a hard time seeing the stranger's left eye. It was just a thin, golden slit barely visible past the dark red-brown burn scar covering half of the young man's face. It must have hurt incredibly bad. Hopefully it didn't still hurt. Could the person even see through that eye, or were they blind? How did that happen? The guy was a firebender. So how...

"Move," the stranger muttered, ignoring the shocked silence around him and moving through their group so he was in the lead. "Keep your voices down. Sound can carry in here."

"And where is 'here' exactly?" Sokka demanded suspicious. At least he kept his voice down.

"A lava tube," the stranger replied. "There are a lot of them here on Crescent Island." He moved his flame to examine something etched into the stone but didn't stop to study it in detail.

"Why's that?"

"Island?" the stranger drawled, obviously rolling his eyes. "Volcano? Lava? Why do you think?"

Sokka huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't know," he grouched. "I'm Water Tribe. I'm not from here. That's why I asked, jerkbender."

The stranger stiffened, but said nothing. Aang winced. He hoping the guy wasn't biting his tongue. That tended to hurt.

"Hey," Aang said, hoping to stop the animosity before it got too bad. "I'm Aang. This is Katara," he said, gesturing to the Water Tribe girl who waved, "and that grouch over there is Sokka."

"I am not a grouch," Sokka griped.

"That's nice," the stranger said in curt voice without any interest.

"So...?" Aang said,

"So what?"

"So what's your name?" Aang chirped hopefully, hopping with a little burst of air so he could walk next to the stranger.

The person turned his head so his good eyes could see Aang's bright smile. Golden eyes blinked dully then turned away and the silence held for another minute.

"Zuko," the person mumbled.

"Zuko," Aang said, trying out the sound of the name. "I like it. It's nice to meet you Zuko. Thanks for helping us."

"I'm not doing it for you," Zuko said, his voice rough and gravelly. "You promised to get me out of here, remember?"

"About that," Sokka spoke up, "why do you want to leave? I mean, you're a firebender," he said, gesturing to Zuko, "in the Fire Nation," gesturing to the ground, "on an island with an erupting volcano and," he waved at their surroundings with a wry grin, "lava tubes."

Zuko shot a disgruntled glare over his shoulder, his scar half hidden by the flickering shadows created by the flame in his palm. "You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you?" he said in a flat voice.

"It was an honest question!" Sokka said, offended. "Geez. Obviously you don't like us very much."

"Obviously."

"So how do we know you aren't leading us into a trap?" Sokka shot back.

"Would you rather go back up to the Temple and get captured by a bunch of pompous batchfires?" Zuko asked, looking back with an expression of genuine confusion.

"No," Katara said quickly, placing a firm hand on her brother's shoulder to silence him. "But really, thank you for helping us."

Zuko hesitated for a moment before turning and continuing down the tunnel. "Don't mention it," he mumbled.

They walked in silence for several minutes before arriving at a staircase that spiraled up into the air above their heads. Zuko paused, head tilted back to stare into the darkness above them. Then he took a deep breath, adjusted his stance, and punched a ball of flame straight up startling Aang and his friends. Up and up the fire went until it eventually burned out despite never reaching the top of the staircase.

Zuko groaned audibly and ignited a new flame in his hand. "I hate steps," he grumbled while making his way to the stairs. "Come on."

Aang was really fond of stairs either. But hey, to each their own. Aang much preferred flying up stairs with his airbending. Much fir efficient, not to mention more fun. The wind on his face and he thrill of freedom as he sped by were what he lived for. Steps were just boring. Ugh. Not to mention they took forever to climb.

"So," he said, controlling his breathing.

"Do you begin all your sentences that way?" Zuko griped.

Huh. Did he? He never noticed. "Never thought about it before," Aang replied thoughtfully. "Anyway, as I was saying, about this place. Do the other Sages know it's here?"

Zuko shrugged. "Some do," he said easily. "Avatar Roku built this after he destroyed the original Temple."

"Wait. Avatar Roku destroyed this place? I thought it was a temple for the Avatar," Katara gasped in surprise.

"It is," Zuko said, nodding. "I don't know all of the details," he admitted, "but I know he did it on the winter solstice while in the Avatar State."

...oh. Awkward.

"Sorry," Aang said shyly.

Golden eyes flashed to him in confusion, glittering in the red-gold firelight. "For what?" he asked, bewildered.

"For destroying the Temple before," Aang said.

Zuko narrowed his good eye. "I thought you came here to see Roku," he said.

"Well, yeah." They'd already said that. Kind of.

"Then how can you see someone if you are that person?" Zuko said.

"A mirror."

The soft slap of skin on skin echoed in the empty stair chamber when Zuko covered his face with his free hand.

"I don't need this right now," he muttered.

Zuko barely spoke after that until they finally began nearing the top of the stairs.

"We're almost there," he said. "Remember, keep your voices down and don't do anything stupid."

"Why do I feel like that was directed at me?" Sokka said, clutching his cramping side.

"Because you might actually have a speck of brains up there somewhere, I guess," Zuko replied.

Katara snorted and held her brother back. Aang patted his friend's shoulder to help calm him down and keep him from attacking Zuko. They needed all the help they could get right now. Thankfully, Zuko ignored them and kept climbing to what looked like a featureless ceiling.

Now that Aang actually looked at it, the stairs dead ended at the ceiling. There wasn't any door or sliding panels or anything like that that Aang could see. But then again, that wall at the start of the tunnel had looked pretty solid and unremarkable too. So who knew?

Oh. There was another sentence that began with 'so.' Maybe Zuko was right about that. Neat.

Speaking of Zuko, the firebender climbed up to the ceiling, pressed his free hand against the smooth, glassy black stone and breathed. A brief burst of flame flickered around the edges of a rectangular slap above him followed by the low grinding sound as the stone moved aside.

Woah. Aang was loving those trap door things. So cool!

He puffed air through his feet and shot up towards the exit, only to find himself grabbed and yanked back into the darkness.

"Idiot!" Zuko hissed at him angrily. "Do you _want_ to get caught?"

"Uh, no," he mumbled awkwardly.

Yeah, he probably should've checked first to be sure they were alone before going up there. Like what Zuko was doing now. Whoops. At least Zuko was doing it, so it was still okay.

With a sigh, Zuko closed his hand around the fire, smothering it, and climbed out of the stairs and into the empty chamber. Once on the solid floor, he turned to help each of them climb out too. How nice.

This room was brighter, lit by lamps along the wall and several windows. Windows. Oh no!

"It's almost sunset!" Aang cried.

Zuko swallowed thickly and nodded, following Aang's gaze to one of the windows. The red sun was dipping closer and closer to the far horizon. It was almost touching the sea now. With a grimace, Zuko got to his feet and closed the stone slab door, sealing it in place with his bending.

"You didn't exactly arrive at a decent time, you know," he grumbled. Dusting himself off, he glanced at to his right and stilled, his expression falling into despair. "No," he whispered. "No, no, _no!_ Damn it, _no!"_

Startled by Zuko's distress, Aang turned and saw the firebender racing to a large door of stone and iron and pounding his fist on it in frustrated disappointment. Woah! Oh, wow!

"Hey! We had a door just like that at the Air Temple," Aang gasped, bursting into a smile. "There were lots of statues of previous Avatars in there and Avatar Roku's eyes glowed. It was so cool!"

Katara giggled despite the situation. "It was kind of cool," she agreed. Then her smile faded to a frown. "But you could open that door with your airbending. I don't think airbending will work on this door."

"It won't," Zuko said, stepping back from the door and gazing up at it with a forlorn expression. He looked defeated. "It requires a fully realized Avatar or five firebenders firing simultaneous fire blasts to open it." He sighed and his shoulders drooped. "They must have sent someone to close it when they saw you coming."

"You say that like it was open before," Sokka said, casting an odd glance at Zuko.

"It was," the firebender replied. "The Fire Sages almost always have the door open. It was part of our- _their_ duty as servants of the Avatar to observe Roku's statue for any signs of the new Avatar's return."

"Our?" Aang said, hopping of a small breeze to Zuko's side. "Are you a Fire Sage too?"

Zuko dropped his gaze for a moment before turning to Aang. "Not by choice," he said wearily. "I guess you could say I'm an acolyte-by-force." Stepping back from the door, he straightened and pinched the bridge of his nose obviously thinking hard. "Alright. So I can't just let you in because _of course_ that would be too easy. Nothing in my life is _ever_ easy."

Aang snickered. "You started that with 'so,'" he teased with a friendly smile.

Zuko rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Aang," Katara said. "Do you think you could fly around the building and through a window into the chamber maybe?"

With a sigh, Aang shook his head. "No. There's only one window for the sunlight to come in and it's too small for me to squeeze through. Momo probably could though."

Katara's shoulders drooped and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Oh. I'm sorry, Aang."

"Well, if we can't open the doors the traditional way," Sokka said suddenly from the far wall holding the remains of a wall sconce in his hands. Since when did he get over there? The Water Tribe boy held up the bag of oil from the unlit lamp. "Why don't we try something a bit less traditional?"


	2. Meeting - Part 2

**A/N:** I'm glad y'all are enjoying this little side fic. I haven't forgotten _Druid in Blue_ or _Foxfire_ Life has just been... merciless these past couple weeks.

 **Chapter summary:** In which Zuko takes a chance for hope and vengeance.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

This was probably one of the stupidest things he'd ever done. Not _the_ stupidest. That particular goal would probably never be surpassed. But this was pretty darn close. However, it was their only chance given what and who they had to work with.

"Alright, ready when you are," Sokka said, stepping away from the stone and iron door.

Zuko took a deep breath and shot a thin, precise flame across the tips of the rope hanging from the bags of oil. Sokka had stuffed the bags into the mouths of the iron snakes on the door to Avatar Roku's chamber. If this worked, it would mimic the required five simultaneous fire blasts needed to open the door.

Please work. He was taking a huge chance here.

The ropes ignited and everyone raced to hide behind the columns lining the halls. It wouldn't be long. Just a couple sec-

 _Sound_ exploded, assaulting his ears just as heat and light filled the chamber. Had he been looking at the explosion, he probably would have been temporarily blinded. Again. As it was, the noise and light disappeared as thick, black smoke filled the room. Wind rushed around him, whipping his clothes and forcing the smoke out of the hall.

"Thanks Aang," he heard the Water Tribe girl, Katara, say gratefully.

"It doesn't matter," Aang said as Zuko stepped out from behind his column and joined them in the open area. The young boy's big gray eyes were staring up at the door sadly. No. "It didn't work."

Sure enough, the door was still sealed shut. Zuko felt his heart plummet to his feet taking every little spark of hope he had with it. It crushed him, forcing him to his knees. Failure. Fool. Traitor. Useless. Unlucky.

 _"She was born lucky, you were lucky to be born."_

Trapped on this infernal island. Forbidden from going anywhere else, from stepping foot on any other island in the Fire Nation on pain of death. This was his prison. All the times he had tried to escape and caught and dragged back, all the times he stared at the sea or the volcano and wished for an end, all the times he had dreamed of finding his mother… It was all gone. One would almost say it all went up in smoke.

Heh.

"Wait a second," he heard Katara mutter. He could barely bring himself to look up when he heard her soft footsteps move across the floor to the door. "There's soot. It worked."

 _What?!_ "It did?" he gasped, staring at the door hopefully.

"It _looks_ like it did," Katara said, turning around with a bright smile on her face.

Zuko's hope collapsed once more. "You're crazy," he said.

"Am I crazy?" she teased. "Or would the Fire Sages be crazy enough to _believe_ it worked?"

Oh. _Oh!_ Zuko's heart thudded. "They might," he said, running through the offered solution in his head. "Aang," he said, turning to the Avatar, "you said your pet Momo could probably fly through the small window and get into the chamber, right?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Aang said, bursting into a smile and nodding.

"Then have him do that," Zuko commanded, getting to his feet. "The Fire Sages are skeptical. They might not just believe the explosive residue, but if they saw a shadow moving under the door-"

"They're be more willing," Sokka said, nodding enthusiastically. "Good to know my idea worked."

"It didn't," Zuko said. "Katara's did."

"Hey!"

"Don't be jealous, brother," Katara said, holding herself proudly while the Avatar laughed.

"Gloat later," Zuko said. "Avatar, get Mom in there now. The rest of you, hide. The Fire Sages aren't stupid or deaf. They couldn't miss an explosion like that."

"Right."

The Avatar saluted then raced to the nearest window to whisper some command to the fuzzy flying critter before tossing him out into the air. Then the other hid behind the columns. Zuko waited until he saw the faintest hint of shadows moving in the room before turning on his heel and running out of the great hall in search of the other Fire Sages.

He didn't have to look far. He heard them coming before he ever saw them.

"He's inside!" Zuko shouted as loudly as he could. "The Avatar is inside Roku's chamber!"

 _"What?!"_

You know, Zuko knew the Great Sage was a hale old man, but he still wondered how someone so ancient and crotchety could possibly run up the endless steps in this place as fast as he did.

"Where?" the Great Saggyness demanded. "Show me, boy. Now!"

As you wish, your worshipfulness. "This way," Zuko said, making sure his disdain wasn't _quite_ audible. Wouldn't do to suddenly be completely respectful, now would it?

He led the way back into the great hall. "See?" he said, pointing to the soot covered openings. "He got inside."

"That's impossible," His Saggyness said, although his eyes were wide with shock.

Of course, it was impossible. About as impossible as Zuko ever forgiving him for turning in Master Shyu as a traitor to the Dragon Throne.

"Then explain that!" Zuko said, pointing to the moving shadow underneath the door. Thank Agni that little fuzzy critter made it in there in time.

"But…" The Great Sage sputtered in confusion. "But the Avatar is a _boy!_ He couldn't _possibly_ have mastered firebending yet. That has to be the _last_ of the elements he studies."

Dear Agni, give him patience. "And yet he still managed to open the doors and get inside," Zuko snapped in frustration. "He's the Avatar! Avatar Roku could have helped him. I don't know. I don't care. That doesn't matter. All that matters is that he's inside. Unless you'd rather do nothing. I'm sure Fire Lord Ozai would _love_ to hear about how you willingly allowed the Avatar to get access to Roku's chamber."

"Watch your mouth, brat!" His Saggyness roared, cuffing Zuko over the head.

He flinched when knuckles cracked against his skull, ducking his head and clutching the ache. But he couldn't hide the smirk from worming its way onto his face. Oftentimes, the best way to get the Great Sage to do something or believe something was to challenge his authority. The man's pride was notoriously delicate.

"Sages!" His Saggyness commanded. "You too, brat. Get up here."

Zuko took up the position Master Shyu should have occupied, feeling the loss of his only friend keenly once more. Together, the firebenders breathed, took their stances, and punched streams of red-gold flame into the iron serpents' mouths. The sound of gears turns echoed in the great hall as the serpents spun around the door and the decorative iron flame between them parted, unlocking the door revealing-

The Avatar's fuzzy flying pet. Zuko bit his lip but couldn't fight the snort. Which the Great Sage heard.

"Liar," the old man hissed.

"Takes one to know one," Zuko said, right before he punched flame at His Saggyness's face. The pained cry from the horrible man was music to Zuko's ears. "I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to do that," he purred. "This one's for Master Shiyu. Avatar! Get in! Now!"

"What?" one of the Sages cried. "No!"

Zuko leaped between the Sages and the Avatar, spinning low to ground and kicking fire into the air. He knew he wasn't the best firebender out there, he probably wasn't even on the list of top one hundred. But he knew how to handle himself against a bunch of old farts. Landing solidly on his feet, he punched fire at anyone who got too close to his line of defense. But five against one was hardly an even fight. Not unless he wanted to kill them.

He wouldn't be his father.

Water splashed, lashing the nearest Fire Sage in the face like a whip. Blinking in surprise, Zuko turned his head to his right and was surprised to see Katara standing there. Her movements were a fluid but her face was screwed up in the concentration Zuko remembered seeing on his own face or the faces of other beginner level benders. Katara wasn't a beginner, but perhaps she wasn't fully trained. Either way, she knew how to hold a line and that was all Zuko needed right now.

Together, he and Katara held the Sages back. Zuko deflected as many flames as he could while Katara whipped the old men with her water and breathed water remaining on them into ice. Ooh! Nice! Cold was a firebender's anathema.

"Freeze their faces," Zuko said.

"What?" the waterbender gasped. "Why? I could suffocate them."

"You won't." She wasn't nearly strong enough for that. "You'll just distract them. I'll explain later. Aim for the nose and mouth."

"Traitor!"

Oh look. His Saggyness was back in the game. Or… not? Zuko had just enough time to blink when the Great Sage was suddenly struck from behind and fell limply to the ground. Then he had to duck, dragging Katara down with him when something metal and spinning flew by their heads. The other Sages hesitated in surprise, but not for long.

Zuko followed the object's trajectory to Sokka who caught the odd metal weapon and threw it again. Now _that_ was an interesting weapon.

"Aang's in!" Sokka shouted of the ruckus. "Cover me while I close the doors."

Yes! What?!

Blue-white light as bright as lighthouse beacon and as pure as starlight flashed between the doors and the walls on all sides with a radiance that put starbursts in Zuko's vision. It was brilliance and pure and felt… warm and safe, reassuring even. It was odd but Zuko felt a thrill of hope return to his soul. This crazy scheme just might work after all.

Zuko spun, breathing and spiraling his arms and augmenting his own flames with his chi and breath just like Master Shyu had taught him, before thrusting his hands forward and sending the thick flames straight at the other Sages. It wasn't a move he had officially been taught. His firebending skills were sub par at best, rudimentary at worst. The Sages only bothered to reinforce his basics.

But Master Shyu had faith in him. With very few exceptions, Master Shyu taught Zuko everything he knew. Then the other Sages found out where Master Shyu's loyalty truly lied and reported him to the Fire Lord.

They deserved this pain. They betrayed Master Shyu. They had taken the only thing Zuko had left, the only person left in this Agni-forsaken nation who still cared about him. They deserved to suffer like he did.

Most of his strike hit true, but some was deflected. There, to the right. What had-

Fire that wasn't his own devoured the air surrounding his flames, smothering them, and blazed directly at him in a jet of heat and light. Caught off guard, Zuko dodged what he could and deflected what he couldn't.

Katara wasn't so lucky. She cried out as searing heat burned passed by her face. It didn't touch her, but it probably singed her hair loopy-thingies. Too close.

"Well, well. Who knew traitors started so young."

Zuko looked in the direction the attack originated and paled when he saw armored men pour into the hall. Military. Navy? Why was the Fire Navy here?

"Who are you?" Katara demanded, streaming water from her canteen and the splatter on the floor to her hands, ready to use.

…oh yeah. The Avatar had to get into the Fire Nation somehow. That meant he had to pass the blockade. Nicely done. But damn. Zuko wasn't good enough to take a trained military officer. Especially a military officer who, judging by the gold lining his uniform, was of high rank. They were screwed.

"Step aside children," the officer obviously in charge said, waving his hand dismissively at Zuko and Katara. "Let the adults do their jobs."

"Sink to La's deepest trench," Zuko snapped viciously.

"Hey!" both Sokka and Katara cried, staring at him in horrified offense.

The officer grinned and chuckled. "Got a mouth on you, I see," he said jovially. "I would have thought you'd learned your lesson the first time." His amber eyes narrowed. "Apparently not."

It took more effort than Zuko was willing to admit to keep from flinching at the reminder. He would never forget was that one small slip had cost him. He saw it every day in his reflection.

Wait. What was that whistling sound?

A solid _thud_ accompanied by a pained grunt startled Zuko from his darker memories. His gaze followed the glint of metal as it spiraled back to the Water Tribe boy. Agni, Zuko _really_ like that weapon.

"You damn water weevil-rat," the officer hissed, thrusting both fists out and sending a fire bloom straight at them.

There was no way Zuko could deflect it all, even with his fire shield. But that didn't stop him from trying. Fortunately, Katara added her own bending to his, forming a thin wall of ice between Zuko's fire shield and their faces. That smart move saved them both from burn scars neither wanted.

"Where is the Avatar?" the officer demanded loudly. "Tell me, bastard. Where is he?"

Zuko ignored the insult, mostly. "Careful officer," he said. "There are ladies present."

By his side, Katara frowned, melting what little ice was left and swirling it back near her hands.

The officer's fists began to smoke with his frustration. His stern face framed by dark brown sideburns emphasized the lines around furious snarl. "I am Commander Zhao of the Fire Navy," he declared. "It is my sworn duty to apprehend traitors to the Dragon Throne. Tell me where the Avatar is, bastard, and I'll leave you with your life."

"I already have that," Zuko said mildly.

"But you won't for much longer if you don't _tell me_ where the Avatar is right _now!"_ Zhao roared.

"It doesn't matter," Sokka said from somewhere behind Zuko, hopefully still guarding the closed doors. "You can't get to him."

"He's inside the chamber then," Zhao said, lifting his gaze to the locked room. "Men, in formation. Open those doors."

The injured Sages scurried out of the way so the soldiers could take up positions on either side of Commander Zhao. Zuko could block some of them, but not all of them. Even with Katara and Sokka, there was no way they would come out of this unscathed. Besides, that blue glow…

"It won't work," Zuko said sharply.

Commander Zhao laughed. "Well, true, we'll have to burn through you three first. No real loss. I might even get a reward for getting rid of the bastard son of the faithless wench-"

"Don't talk about my mother like that!" Zuko cried, feeling his inner fire singe his skin, begging to explode outward.

When Zhao grinned, Zuko knew he had lost.

"Zuko's right," Katara said suddenly. "You won't be able to open those doors. Avatar Roku sealed it shut."

What? Why would Katara… The blue light. The only other time Zuko had ever seen light like that was when Avatar Roku's eyes glowed. The day the Fire Sages learned the Avatar had returned. The day Zuko first felt hope as fragile as spun glass take root in his heart.

"She's right," Sokka said, stepping up to Zuko's other side. "We saw the light ourselves."

Well, they saw the light. But they weren't sure what that meant. It could just be Avatar Roku appearing to Aang. But Zhao _didn't know that._

"Give up, Zhao," Zuko said, deliberately refusing to use the polite reference to the man's rank. "You won't get in."

This was Zuko's one chance to escape this place, avenge Master Shyu, and find his mother. He wasn't going to watch it slip through his fingers.

The commander grit his teeth and glared at Zuko and his companions. Zuko braced for the inevitable.

Then Zhao chuckled. "Well, if we can't get in, then I guess we'll just wait." What? "The Avatar will have to come out, after all." No. "I'm sure he wouldn't want his _friends_ to suffer in his place." Agni, no. "Although, I don't see why there's a need for all of you to be here. One will do just fine."

"Yeah? Well we don't care what you think," Katara snapped.

No. She didn't understand. Katara and Sokka couldn't be older than Zuko. He knew what it felt like to fail, to be burned so badly all hope was lost. Thy didn't. They couldn't die here. Zuko wanted _out_ , be he doubted any of them would be able to survive the world alone. Besides, Katara was a girl and Zuko didn't trust a man like Zhao anywhere within fire blast radius of her.

Zhao grinned. "Kill the boys," he commanded. "Leave the girl."

No. "Wait!" Zuko shouted. The soldiers took their stances and- "Agni Kai!"


	3. Meeting - Part 3

**A/N:** I've decided I'm going to keep working on this, but it won't be a story like _Foxfire_ or _Druid in Blue._ It's going to be a selection of pieces form throughout Book 1 in chronological order but won't be covering every instant of every day. The sections from Book 2 and Book 3 will be their own stories which I'll connect in a series starting with this fic.

Sound good?

 **Chapter summary:** In which Zuko battles it out in more ways than one and ultimately wins.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

He was going to regret this. He just knew it. He really should have thought this through before shouting that challenge. He lost the last Agni Kai he fought. …the only Agni Kai… He couldn't afford to lose this one. Especially if he still wanted to get off this Agni-foresaken rock. The Avatar and his gang were Zuko's only ticket out of here and there was no way he was going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

Now if only Zhao would stop laughing at him. At least none of the other firebenders, soldiers and Sages alike, were moving.

"You?" Zhao shouted in amused disbelief. "You challenge _me?_ Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Zuko," he replied, keeping a firm hold on his breathing, "son of Ursa. Why? Forgot who you were talking to already?" Zuko allowed himself a small smirk. "Your memory must be going in your old age."

He heard Katara snort from her place next to him and his smirk widened slightly. Zhao, however, was fuming.

"How dare you," the commander hissed.

"You said yourself you have nothing better to do than wait," Zuko pressed. He was really going to regret this. "So why not spend that time trying to burn me to death?"

"Wait, what?" Sokka muttered in confusion.

Zuko continued, hoping neither Water Tribe sibling interrupted him. "It would give you something to do and, if you win," Agni forbid, "you'll be rid of a bastard and the Avatar will have to come out eventually. Nothing to lose, everything to win."

"Wait a second," Sokka said louder. Damn, Zuko could hear Katara's breath catch as she began to understand too. He had to hurry.

"But if I win, you have to leave and never come back," he said. Then he snickered. "Or you could surrender now and look like a coward and fool in front of all your men and these _venerable_ Fire Sages." Zhao was practically smoking with fury. "After all, I believe Fire Lord Ozai made it _very_ clear what he thinks of surrender. I'm sure he would be _thrilled_ to find out one of his naval commanders chose to surrender before an Agni Kai even began rather than see it through to the end. And to lose to a bastard of all thi-"

 _Shit!_

Zuko ducked and rolled away from the fire blast, barely avoiding the flames. Again and again, he was forced to dodge while Katara and Sokka blessedly scattered. Hopefully the Sages and soldiers would keep them back. No true Fire Nation citizen would knowingly let an outsider insert themselves into an honorable Agni Kai.

Not that this was like any Agni Kai Zuko had ever fought before. Not that he had much experience with Agni Kais but - _damn!_ \- he couldn't think of any that were like this. There was no planning, no threats, no words. Just attack, attack, _attack._ Zuko could barely keep up.

Well, if he couldn't win -which he knew he couldn't, he just wasn't that good of a firebender- then he'd do the next best thing. Stall. If he could buy enough time for Aang to finish with Avatar Roku, then maybe he would have the chance to escape.

It would destroy what little was left of his reputation, but maybe that was for the best. He already had his honor stripped from him after his Agni Kai against the Fire Lord. He didn't have much else to lose. If he couldn't find a way off this island, then he would have to resort to swimming. Although, if that worked out as badly as it had last time, then he might have to resort to letting the volcano kill him.

He wasn't about to let that happen. Not when his goal was practically within his grasp. So his mother slept with someone else. She didn't even know her future husband yet. It wasn't as if she had much of a chance to get to know him. Fire Lord Azulon had introduced his son to her, then told her she was going to marry him, then actually _married_ them all in a matter of a week. Lady Ursa never had the chance to explain.

Zuko didn't hate her. How could he? He had read the love letter she'd written to his birth father, Ikem. 'Their child.' His mother loved him just as much as she loved Ikem. How could Zuko be ashamed of that? It wasn't like he had basically kidnapped, forcefully married, and tormented a potential spouse. You know, like what Ozai did.

Besides, he knew how to kill someone without his blades or his bending. His mother gave him more than just her love. She taught Zuko skills that his Fiery Assholeness deemed beneath him, unless they proved useful. Yet another reason why Zuko had been banished to this remote island. Alive and useless, until he was suddenly useful.

Pity Commander Zhao didn't know that little tidbit. Hopefully, Zuko would never have to use those skills for anything other than healing. But on the off chance he did, he could think of a few ways to take care of a problem quickly and quietly. However much he wouldn't enjoy the act of killing itself, he had learned through necessity that sometimes suffering wasn't a price he was willing to let those he cared for pay.

Master Shyu had lectured him on that thoroughly. Although he didn't outright say that killing was wrong, the Fire Sage had heavily implied it. That was something Zuko had struggled with. He agreed with Master Shyu that taking a life was never a good thing, but he could think of several situations in which leaving your opponent alive would inevitably cause problems that could prove fatal later on.

So he taught himself to fight to maim. It wasn't easy and it meant carefully calculating the force needed for each and every blow he received and delivered. He still wasn't anywhere near the lever of a Master Firebender, but he could hold his own for a while.

He had learned from sparring matches with Master Shyu that what he lacked in skill and sheer fire power, he made up for in speed, agility, and endurance. As long as he could breathe and channel his chi, he could and would fight. He didn't have to defeat Commander Zhao. He just had to outlast him.

Grinning to himself, Zuko dodged to the side, sweeping his hand in a burning arc that send flames jetting towards Zhao's midsection in a wave of heat and light. Unable to fully dodge the wide attack, the commander deflected the flames that would have struck him directly. The moment he could, the commander punched fireballs at Zuko. A few got close, but Zuko dodged and deflected while kicking his own fireballs blazing back at the commander.

Outlasting an opponent was more than just a matter of draining their chi. It was driving them to the point that they handicap themselves. In this situation, Zuko was lighter and quicker than his opponent, but his skill wasn't up to par. Zhao knew that and thus kept up a steady stream of attacks designed to keep Zuko on the defensive with few chances of retaliating.

So get him mad.

"Is that all you've got, Commander?" Zuko jeered, deflecting a fireball. Breathe. In. "Pathetic. You should be demoted."

Hold.

"Bastard," Zhao roared, rooting his stance and blasting a stream of fire straight at Zuko.

Out.

Zuko crouched low, ducked his head so it was aligned with his arms, and clapped his hands together, breaking Zhao's fiery attack and streaming flames on either side of him. It was close. Judging by the smell of charred cloth and singed hair, perhaps too close.

But this was what he had been waiting for. Zhao's grander attacks such as these drained the chi more quickly and were harder to direct with pinpoint accuracy. But they were well suited to channeling the darker emotions like anger and hate which tended to lash out at anyone in the vicinity. Fire was life. Fire was emotion. It burned like the bender felt. The more emotionally unstable the bender, the more wild and uncontrollable the fire.

Another deep breath in through his nose. The hot air burned as it went down his throat. Hold. His fire shield swirled, attempting to utilize some of Zhao's flames that were no longer directly controlled by the commander's chi into their defense. Out. The fire stream ebbed and Zuko struck.

Kicking fireballs in rapid succession followed by flaming punches. Landing on his hands, Zuko rode out his momentum, allowing his body to twirl, kicking out a ring of flames aimed at Zhao's stomach. Bending his elbows, Zuko braced one foot and spun in a low twirl that sent a ring of fire sweeping across the floor from his foot towards Zhao's unprotected ankles.

Zhao screamed, caught by the low blow which had been hidden by the wave of flames higher up, just like Zuko planned. Focusing his mind and chi, Zuko didn't pause to gloat. He pressed his advantage. Attack. Attack. _Attack_. Don't stop. Push. Do to Zhao what Zhao did to him. Don't give the commander the chance to recover. Don't give him the chance to breathe.

Just attack. Punch. Kick. Fire bloom followed by another low, sweeping spin and another. Then a fire bomb followed by a fire bloom that was as powerful as his current chi levels could manage.

Riding the force of his chi-fueled fire, Zuko launched himself into the air. He kicked twice sending two fireballs racing towards Zhao's face. While the commander was forced to deflect the flames, Zuko spiraled his arms together, gathering all the fires around him, bending them to his will, augmenting them with his determination and chi, then thrust his palm through the spiral. The blazing inferno roared in his ears like what he imagined a dragon's roar must have sounded like. The golden glow filled the hall with heat and flickering shadows and a pained scream that was more than satisfying to hear.

Without waiting for the light and heat and smoke to dissipate, Zuko breathed and lashed out with twin fire whips which latched onto the commander's armored wrists and smashed an already injured Zhao to the damaged stone floor. Finally dissipating his flames, Zuko raced forward and punched a ball of flame a mere inch from the commander's face.

"Yield," he hissed fiercely.

Zhao's gaze burned with humiliation and fury. He twitched and Zuko punched another ball of flame an inch from Zhao's other cheek.

"Yield!" he shouted.

The commanded shook with barely contained rage, then sighed. "I yield," he said.

He won. He _won._ Stepped back and scanned the faces of the soldiers and Fire Sages stepping out of their hiding spots between the columns in the hall. They were all various stages of shock and awe and anger. No loyal soldier enjoyed watching their commanding officer brought down a notch.

The Fire Sages stared at Zuko as if they had never known him before. Zuko felt wry amusement and a small blossom of pride in his chest. They didn't know he could do that. Why would they? He was just the bastard, the Fire Lord's castoff. Only Master Shyu had ever cared to teach him. And Zuko remembered every lesson and taught himself when Master Shyu had been betrayed and shipped away.

Now all the training had paid off. He did it. He won.

He could breathe easy now and take stock of his body. He ached and was undoubtedly bruised from the battle. He'd probably need to apply some witch hazel to them later to keep the discoloration down. His chi wasn't at the level he preferred, but it wasn't as low as Zhao's probably was which was good enough for Zuko. More importantly, nothing was broken and, although his clothes were somewhat singed, nothing really important was burned.

"Woah."

Huh? Startled by the unexpected voice, Zuko looked around to the two Water Tribesmen. He'd completely forgotten they were there. He hoped they had done the smart thing and hid like the others. He didn't want them to accidentally get burned by a stray fire blast during an Agni K- _WHAT THE-?!_

He barely managed to raise his arms to protect his face when the flames vanished as abruptly as they appeared. Warily, he peaked over his hands and was stunned by what he saw. His Sagginess was standing between Zuko and Zhao, his hand gripping the commander's foot which was upraised in a high kick. Zhao had… And the High Sage had…

"You shame yourself, commander," the old Fire Sage said, glaring angrily at the wobbling soldier. "You lost an Agni Kai honorably. How _dare_ you disgrace Agni's name by attacking the victor after yielding. And after his _back_ was turned. Zuko won the duel in front of witnesses. Acknowledge your defeat and keep to the terms of your loss."

Terms? Oh, right. If Zhao lost, he had to leave and never come back. Zuko allowed himself a small grin. He was the victor. He had laid the terms before the Agni Kai. By fighting him, Zhao had accepted the terms. Now, as the loser, Zhao was bound by those terms. No true Fire Nation citizen would debate the results or terms of an Agni Kai _after_ it had already been completed fairly and with witnesses to corroborate the outcome.

Zhao could do nothing. Zuko had won.

Staggering away from the Head Fire Sage, Commander Zhao glared daggers at Zuko. With witnesses, there was nothing Zhao could do.

"Very well," the commander said. "I will leave Crescent Island and never come back, as we agreed."

Zuko nodded.

"But I will _not_ leave until I have the Avatar in my grasp," Zhao added, a vicious grin stretching across his face.

"That wasn't part of the terms!" Zuko shouted.

"No, it wasn't," the commander said, rubbing the scorched armor that had protected his wrists and hands from the brunt of the Agni Kai's flames. "But you never did specify when I should leave or who or what I could take with me."

Damn it. He hadn't.

"I was under the impression I was dealing with an honorable Fire Nation officer," Zuko said. "I won't make that mistake again."

The commander just gave Zuko a contemptuous smile that raised every hackle on the back of Zuko's neck. Footsteps heralded the approach of people from behind him. They weren't armored so they didn't belong to the soldiers and there wasn't an accompanying swish of fabric so they didn't belong to the Fire Sages. The Water Tribesmen then. Good. He could use the support if this turned into another all-out fight.

"Allying with enemies of the Fire Nation?" Zhao asked, finding the energy to fake an expression of innocent curiosity despite how hard he was still breathing. "Only traitors cavort with the Avatar or the Water Tribes. Are you a traitor Zuko?"

"No," he said, fighting to keep his heart rate down with little success. "I'm not a traitor."

"Because if you are," Zhao continued as if Zuko hadn't spoken at all, "then you should know the Fire Lord's edict for the punishment of any and _all_ traitors."

No.

"That's not fair!" Katara shouted, drawing a stream of water from her canteen. "He's not a traitor. You're just a coward and a sore loser."

"Yeah," Sokka added from Zuko's other side. "What? You lose to a guy my age and you attack his honor instead?"

Zuko winced. He was pretty sure he was older than Sokka by a year or so at least. But that wasn't the, ah, main problem.

"Honor?" Zhao said, eyeing Sokka with open disdain. He sniffed. "He has no honor. He's a bastard. He lost his honor the moment he was born. The whore who birthed him-"

 _"Don't call her that!"_ Zuko roared. Only Sokka quick grip on his wrist kept him from launching himself at the commander. "My mother was a noble, _honorable_ woman. She was engaged to her lover before the Fire Lord _forced_ her to marry his son."

The grip of his wrist weakened suddenly but he had regained enough control to not charge blindly at the commander.

"The Fire Lord didn't _ask_ if she was pregnant before he all but kidnapped her," Zuko hissed. "That's on _his_ head." He grinned. "And he paid for it."

"You- You're the _Fire Lord's-_ "

"I'm not related to him," Zuko said, glancing briefly at Katara. The horrified anger in her expression wasn't something he felt like facing just yet. Stall. Just a bit longer.

 _Boom!_

Or not. Everyone turned to see the great doors to Avatar Roku's chamber swing open slowly revealing a thick blackness within. Zuko couldn't see anything in there. It shouldn't be that dark. It wasn't night yet. Where was…

Blue eyes that glowed with power no Human could ever safely wield appeared from the blackness. But… Aang wasn't that tall. Zuko was taller than the airbender. Only a full grown man could be that tall.

"Attack!"

"Get down!" Zuko cried, grabbing a handful of both Water Tribesmen's clothes and yanking to the floor with him.

An instant later, heat and light filled the space where they had once stood. If they hadn't face planted, they would have been burned alive. He could hear Katara screaming and feeling Sokka slapping his hands over his half-shaved head. When the blazing attack ceased, Zuko, Katara, and Sokka lifted their heads and stared into the darkness.

Only it wasn't just darkness anymore. It wasn't _possible_. Zuko was seeing it with his own two eyes and he _still_ could barely believe it.

"Avatar Roku," he whispered in awe.

For a moment that felt like an eternity but couldn't have been longer than a split second, it felt like Avatar Roku's inhuman blue gaze settled on Zuko. There was no hate there. Then the moment passed and the long-gone Avatar who _shouldn't be here_ swirled the fire that had been blasted at him right back at his attackers. The screams of Zhao and the soldiers were a welcome sound to Zuko's ears.

He _had_ to learn that move.

Then the ground started shaking and a roar that never boded well echoed from outside and _up._ The volcano. No. It wasn't supposed to be particularly explosive. Why would it- _Holy shit!_

The floor near them crumbled away and _lava_ roared up through the opening, searing Zuko's face from the intense heat. They had to get out of here. They were too close to the lava. It would kill them, burning them alive in a spectacularly explosive fashion.

He'd seen what happened to someone who decided to play chicken-pig with fast moving lava. He had absolutely _no_ desire to suffer the same fate.

"We have to get out of here," he said, scrambling to his feet and dragging the Water Tribe siblings with him.

"We can't leave Aang," Katara shouted.

"Aang's not here!" Sokka said. "Avatar Roku is. But he's _dead!"_

Zuko's thoughts exactly.

Or… not?

The form of Avatar Roku faded away leaving an exhausted Aang in his place. The airbender slumped limply to the ground and Katara ripped free from Zuko's grasp. She gathered Aang up in her arms and looked around frantically.

"We can't leave him behind," she shouted over the roar of the lava and the crumbling and crashing of the temple collapsing in around them.

"Well I am _not_ going to die here," Zuko snapped, looking around frantically for some kind of escape route. They were on the top floor of the temple and… Oh, the far wall just fell off. That's nice. Now they had a clear ledge to jump to their deaths from. How thoughtful.

A low bellow Zuko had never heard before echoed through the dusky sky. What by Agni's holy fire was _that?!_

"Appa!" Sokka shouted. "Katara, come on."

"I can't carry Aang," the girl cried, struggling to hold the airbender in her arms and run across the unstable ground towards the ledge where a _giant furry monster_ was _flying_ and moaning at them.

Zuko hesitated only a moment before darting over to Katara, snatching Aang from her arms, and nudging her in front of him. "Go!" he shouted.

Together, they ran to the beast and -ah whatever, he was going to die if he stayed here anyway- they jumped. For several terrible seconds, Zuko hung in the air a hundred feet above the lava covered ground. Then he smashed onto a hard surface that _moved!_

Sitting up, he looked around and sighed. His heart was still pounding in his chest, they were still _flying_ through the air, but they were alive. They were all alive and safe.

And he never had to see that Agni-foresaken island ever again.

Mother, Master Shyu, he was coming for them.


	4. Jet - Part 1

**A/N:** I'm back~ Now for the second arc of this little piece of fun. As usual, I've rough edited this now but I'll hardcore edit it tomorrow morning.

 **Chapter summary:** In which Zuko is a launching pad for a wild animal, is okay with walking, and _very_ okay with his new toys.

* * *

 **4: Jet - Part 1**

She was still glaring at him. He couldn't figure her out. What was her problem? He'd helped gather wood, actually lit the fire for her, _and_ brewed the tea. …Actually, that might be why she was glaring at him. Zuko liked his tea, but he'd been told that it was, well, bracing to other people. He wasn't sure why. It tasted fine to him.

At least Aang seemed to like him. Then again, the young Avatar seemed to like everyone. He'd even seemed to like those pirates which _still_ made Zuko want to smack his face and pull out his hair in disbelief. Aang was hopelessly optimistic. Granted, he was just a kid but _still!_

Pirates were not to be trusted. Everyone knew that. You only dealt with them if you had no other choice or you had something to hold over them to make sure they kept their end of a bargain and didn't stab you in the back later. Zuko was going to have nightmares about that stupid lizard-parrot for weeks. Creepy thing.

And all of that excitement over a single waterbending scroll. Zuko groaned and fell back against the flying bison's thick fur and soaked in the early morning sun. Why was he still with these guys again? He didn't know. He honestly didn't.

Well, yes he did. Aang asked him to. Since Zuko had to plan his rescue of Master Shyu and hunt for his mother carefully, he agreed to stay. But only until he knew where Master Shyu was being kept and had an idea of where to start looking for his mother. Once he knew, he would leave.

He did like the trees here, though. There wasn't much underbrush as he expected which meant there lots of herbivores in the area eating it. That he meant he'd probably have to look higher up for anything to replenish his stash of herbs. He was running a bit low on witch hazel anyway. The Avatar's gang certainly managed to get bumped and banged up frequently.

As long he avoided any plants he wasn't familiar with, he should be fine. He was always ready to learn more herbal remedies, but not at the expense of harming one of his companions. As much as he wanted to find Master Shyu and his mother, he knew that just wandering off on his own without any clue where to start was stupid. Not to mention a death sentence if he was caught in the Fire Nation. Well, everywhere else in the world too, probably, but at least the rest of the world didn't have an active kill-on-sight order out on him. So there was some hope.

Besides, Zuko wasn't hated by everyone in their little group. Sokka didn't trust him but had a grudging respect for his cooking abilities. Zuko wasn't as talented as Katara, granted, but he could make something edible. In return, Zuko appreciated Sokka's hunting skills and had begun to take lessons. When he finally broke off to go searching for Master Shyu and his mother on his own, he would need to know how to feed himself with something other than plants.

Katara was beginning to come around too. She still preferred to deal with him from the other side of Appa's saddle, but at least she was civil with him now. It really was amazing what nearly getting captured and killed by a group of pirates could do to a flawed relationship. Ever since Zuko, Aang, and Sokka teamed up to rescue her from the pirate's clutches, she'd actually begun to talk to him. Not yell at him, _talk_ to him.

Turned out, she had mother issues too. Small world. Unfortunately, whereas Zuko's mother was just missing, he refused to accept anything else without definitive proof, Katara's mother had been murdered in a raid by the Fire Nation. It hadn't been his fault, he hadn't even been aware of the raids on the South Pole, but he still felt guilty about it. Maybe if he'd known… Maybe if he'd kept his mouth shut at the war council…

It probably wouldn't have changed anything. The Fire Lord despised Zuko. Ozai had been just _waiting_ for an excuse to get rid of the failed bastard. He would have ended up banished from the Fire Nation or simply killed eventually. Accidents happened with firebenders all the time and everyone knew the royal family was a prime target for assassinations from both within and without the Fire Nation. It would be unfortunate but unsurprising if something should… happen.

Across the campsite, Katara was muttering something under her breath. Her fingers brushed her bare throat and Zuko suddenly understood. Her mother's necklace was still missing. No wonder she was in a bad mood. If Zuko ever lost his mother's last letter to Ikem, he would probably feel the same way.

"Hey, where's Momo?" Aang asked, breezing up to the campsite. "I haven't seen him for a while."

Zuko blinked and check his stash of berries and nuts. "He's not here," he said.

"How would you know?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Because my food's still here," Zuko replied.

"Oh, yeah, good point," Aang said, tapping his cheek thoughtfully.

Sokka and Katara quickly checked their own bags of snacks.

"Nothing here," the waterbender said sounding worried.

"Not here either," Sokka said, popping a nut into his mouth as he did so. "Maybe he wandered off."

"Come on, Aang. Let's go look for him," Katara said, getting to her feet. "You two stay here and finish packing up camp," she said to Zuko and Sokka before following Aang further into the forest.

She was just trying to avoid drinking his tea.

"Actually, I'll join you," Sokka said quickly, scrambling after them.

Ouch. Right in the gut. Well, damn. Guess he got all this tea to himself. Whatever would he do? He filled his cup to the brim and sipped it.

He could still hear the group nearby but he could no longer see them from his current vantage point. No big deal. With a quick swipe of his hand, the campfire doused itself and Zuko began dismantling to the cooking contraption. The unburnt sticks he tossed carelessly into the bushed. Hopefully, it would look more natural that way. The burnt sticks he would bury with the ashy remains of the fire. Better safe than sorry.

He heard the shrill warbling cry of the odd lemur and rolled his eyes. Just like he thought. The little critter had wandered off. Again. On the bright side, every time Momo disappeared, he reappeared with a new stash of berries and nuts to munch on.

Zuko was secretly working on building up to courage to ask Aang if he could keep the little guy after he left. Momo's scavenging habits could be useful. The thing was also cute and its fur was just soft enough to be comfortable. The fact Momo seemed to enjoy riding around on Zuko's head or shoulders was another point in his favor as far as Aang was concerned. Zuko knew it was just because he was the tallest of their group, aside from the giant, furry, flying bison.

Leaves rustled and Zuko looked up from rolling up his bedroll, expecting to see Katara, Sokka, or Aang appear. He did _not_ expect the wild monkey-linx that bounded into the camp at top speed. Zuko wasn't stupid. He had just enough time to gape before ducking down and covering his head protectively. Paws landed squarely on his back then jumped away, continuing through the forest away from his camp.

"Okay," he murmured. "That just happened."

Appa waffled in agreement before letting its enormous head fall back to the ground. Probably good advice. When it didn't make sense, just accept it and go with it. Besides, it was probably Aang's fault anyway.

"Zuko!"

Case and point.

He looked up in time to see the Avatar fly out of the same bush and land gracefully by the flying bison's giant face.

"Hey buddy," the airbender said happily, pausing to pet Appa's fur before turning to Zuko. "We need to go," he said seriously. "The Fire Nation's nearby."

No.

"What?" Zuko gasped, his eyes already darting around the forest beyond the campsite for any signs of red and black armor. "Where? How do you know?"

"We found some traps a ways up the trail," Sokka said, stepping through the bushes with his sister by his side.

"Actually, Momo found them first," Katara said, petting the chittering lemur on her shoulder. "We set him free."

"And the other animals too," Aang chirped with a grin.

Zuko was right. That monkey-linx was definitely Aang's fault.

"Anyway," Sokka drawled, "the traps were metal."

Zuko frowned. "But I thought the Earth Kingdom uses metal traps too," he said.

"Some of them do," Sokka said, nodding. "But they use iron. These traps were steel."

Ah. Yes, that made sense. Crap.

"I'll start burying the ashes while you guys finish taking down the camp," he said, dropping back to his knees and using his fingers to dig a hole in the soft earth.

He could hear the Avatar's group of friends working around him and tried to keep his heartbeat calm. The Fire Nation was here. Again. Zuko knew they were hunting the Avatar and since he was currently traveling with the Avatar, it made sense if he ran into the Fire Nation too. Like the incident with the pirates. He just would much rather that not happen.

The Fire Nation would capture the Avatar. They would probably kill him. Even if Fire Lord Ozai hadn't heard of Zuko's escape from Crescent Island -unlikely- or hadn't gotten around to ordering his death -also unlikely- Zuko was still traveling with the Avatar. To any loyal Fire Nation soldier, that meant he was a traitor by default and all traitors were killed. No exceptions. Zuko liked being alive, thank you very much.

"I think we should walk," Sokka said suddenly.

Zuko paused. "Excuse me?" he said in flat disbelief.

"Think about it," Sokka said, holding up his hands to stall any arguments. "The Fire Nation is hunting us and that general guy has been tracking us since the South Pole. How do you think he's been doing that?"

"Uhh," Aang muttered, trying to come up with an answer.

"What general?" Zuko asked curiously, finishing up securing his bedroll and sitting on his heels. "Maybe I've heard of him."

The group blinked and stared at him, Sokka and Katara suspiciously and Aang openly hopeful. "Really?" the Avatar chirped.

Zuko frowned, getting to his feet and looping his tied bedroll and person belongings onto his back. "I mean, I've been out of the loop for several years," he said reluctantly, "but if he's anyone I remember, I can tell you what I know."

The waterbender tilted her head and looked at him oddly. "Why would you do that?" she asked in honest confusion. Her eyes widened and she waved her hands, "Not that I'm upset or telling you not to," she added quickly, "I'm just curious, is all. No offense meant."

"None taken," Zuko said with a shrug. "I hate the Fire Lord and I won't turn down an opportunity to screw him over. He ruined my mother's life and mine. The least I can do is make his life difficult." He smirked. "Besides, the Fire Nation will be wanting me dead as a traitor anyway, so I don't have anything to lose." He jerked his chin at Aang expectantly, "So, who is this general?"

"He's this old, fat guy," Aang said excitedly, a brilliant smile on his face. He spun up a small whirlwind and rode it down from the top of Appa's head where he'd perched like a bird to land lightly in front of Zuko. "He's always polite when he talks to us-"

"Holding us at fireblast is _not_ being polite, Aang!" Katara cried in dismay, looking offended by the suggestion.

"True," Aang admitted, tapping the corner of his mouth thoughtfully. "But he could've just blasted us and everyone else in the village and _then_ ask us, be he didn't."

"That would've been inefficient," Zuko said, shaking his head.

Sokka lifted an eyebrow and stared at him in suspicious curiosity. "Why do you say that?" he asked. "Not that I'm complaining, just…"

"Well, if the general got his position by merit and not just because he's a friend of the Fire Lord," Zuko said in derision, "then he wouldn't be stupid enough to start killing people before interrogating them. How would he know he didn't accidentally kill the person who had the answers he was looking for? Besides," he added, adjusting the packs on his back, "people tend to talk more quickly if they know what's being asked first. The answer may not be something worth keeping quiet about. Better to use force _after._ It saves time and chi."

Katara and Aang looked horrified by the thought but Sokka crossed his arms, taking Zuko's advice seriously.

"How horrible," the waterbender murmured, hugging herself.

"But…" Aang licked his lips and clutched his airstaff, his wide gray eyes filled with optimistic hope. "He's the only Fire Nation soldier I've ever talked to who actually talked _back_ with _out_ blasting me with fire," he said. "He can't be all _that_ bad." Lifting his gaze to Katara. "Right?"

"You still haven't told me who it is yet," Zuko said, before looking at Sokka. "Although, I betting whoever he is has been tracking you because of _him."_ He jerked his chin at the enormous flying bison. "It's kind of hard to miss a giant, six-legged, furry monster flying through the sky no matter who you are."

"My thoughts exactly," the Water Tribe boy said, nodding. "That's why I think we should walk. At least until we're sure we've lost the Fire Nation's trail."

The bison opened its huge mouth and moaned pathetically.

"I know buddy," Aang said, patting Appa's head. "It's okay. It won't be for forever. Who knows, walking might be fun."

* * *

"Walking is not fun," Aang moaned for the umpteenth time.

Breathe, Zuko. Just breathe. In, hold, out. Now count every breath and bit his tongue. Hard.

"It's so boring!" Aang groaned, slumping even further until he was practically trudging.

"It'd be less boring if you kept your mouth shut long enough to have a couple minutes of silence," Zuko said.

Immediately, he found himself the recipient of two shocked expressions from Aang and Katara and one grateful expression from Sokka.

"Thank you!" Sokka called back to the firebender.

"Sokka!" Katara cried. "Don't encourage him."

"Don't encourage Aang, either," Sokka said. "Look Aang," he said, looking down at the airbender walking between him and his sister, "I know you don't like it. But unless you can make Appa invisible or something, this is our best option."

True. However… Hot, moist air blew against Zuko's back and he winced at the smell of bad, animal breath. Appa seemed just as annoyed with walking as the Avatar. Maybe it was an airbender thing.

"Actually, that makes sense," he murmured, casting a glance over his shoulder at the flying bison.

"What makes sense?" Aang asked, riding a brisk gust back to where Zuko walked.

"Why you don't like walking," he said, tilting his head thoughtfully. "You're an airbender."

Aang blinked and frowned in confusion. "Yeah," he drawled. "I thought that was obvious."

Breathe. Just breathe.

"It is," Zuko said. "But you're walking on the earth." He stomped his foot on the dirt to emphasize his point. "Think about it. Water is the opposite of Fire. So what's the opposite of Air?"

"Earth," Katara murmured in surprised realization. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're Water," Zuko said. "You're used to walking or sailing just like the Fire Nation. I bet the people of the Earth Kingdom travel by land almost exclusively. I'd be surprised if they had a navy of any significant size."

Aang scratched his bald head and spun his airstaff around absently. "So the reason I don't like walking is because it's part of my opposite element?" he asked.

"No, you're just a bored twelve-year-old," Sokka chimed in from the front of their walking train.

"Can't argue with that," Aang said cheerfully.

The kid had _way_ too much energy. How could anyone have so much energy and not explode? Any firebender with that kind of energy inevitably ended up setting things on fire by accident. Were all airbenders as energetic as Aang?

…Had they been…

"Either way," Sokka said, cutting into Zuko'a increasingly dark thoughts, "we shouldn't have to walk too much further." He turned around and started walking backwards, stumbling over a root as he did so. "Once we get out of these trees, we should be okay to fly again." He pushed a few bush branches aside. "The Fire Nation should be far enough behind us by now that it'll be okay."

He turned around and froze.

"What is it?" Aang called, propelling himself up to Sokka's side while Katara and Zuko hurried after them on foot.

They immediately regretted it.

"Fire Nation!" Sokka shrieked.

On the bright side, Zuko thought as he shrugged off his backpack, the Fire Nation soldiers looked just as surprised to see their little group as they were to see the soldiers. But that didn't mean Zuko was going to let them off easily.

He ducked a fireball and spun his legs around, tripping the nearest firebender and riding the momentum back up to his feet. A swift punch to the firebender's face and the soldier's nose broke.

Three fireballs flew past him, and he turned to face the latest assailant and ooh! Nice dao. Finder's keepers.

He leaned forward and raced at the soldier next to the attacking firebender, crouched, and leaped, flipping over the soldier's head and gripping the dao blades' hilts as he passed. Landing gracefully on his feet, he swept right foot around and behind in sync with his right arm to keep his balance and strike the soldier with his newly acquired blades.

He managed to avoid beheading the soldier at the last second, dropping the blade so it sliced through the protective, leather under armor instead. He didn't mind killing, but Aang did. This was just a common foot soldier, not a commanding officer. There was no insignia or gold decorating his armor. No need to kill him if Zuko didn't have to. Disabling would do nicely.

Besides, he got a shiny new pair of dao from the exchange. Worth it.

He felt the heat before he saw the fire blast, turning his head sharply to the right and narrowly avoiding a fresh burn on top of his scar. Damn. He was slipping. Speeding up his turn, he spun completely around and swirled his dao blades in swift wrist movements that dispelled the flames, disrupting the chi flow and cutting through the air and ripping apart the fiery core.

Oh, he missed this. Before he bent his first flame at eight, Zuko had tried his best to find something to be good at. When Master Piandao showed him the dual dao, Zuko fell in love. The blades weren't swords, they were merely extensions of his arms, a part of his body and mind. They moved where _he_ wanted them to because they were a part of _him._ This was something he was good at.

One of the few things he was proud of.

He deflected another fire blast then leapt over a fire stream landing on a soldier's spear shaft. Swinging his right leg up and around, he kicked the spearman's helmeted face and brought his blades down, easily slicing through the wooden spear shaft. Landing on his right foot, he finished his spin with a knee to the soldier's gut.

Leaping back so he was out of the soldier's reach, he found himself back-to-back to someone. Without looking, he could tell the stranger was taller than Sokka but wore no armor. Not Fire Nation then. So who-?

"Nice blades," the person said, his smirk audible in his voice. "Wanna team up?"

Heh. What the hell. "Bring it on," Zuko said. He spun one blade and both he and the stranger leapt apart for their own targets.

This could be fun.

* * *

 **A/N:** **EDIT** **9/27** / **18** : Nevermind. Ignore what used to be here. I've decided to just let the story go where it will and leave it as "gen" until it feels like doing otherwise. So expect nothing but gen and canon pairings unless told otherwise.


End file.
